Tatyana Wyatt's big day leads Columbus to region tournament finals

With a state tournament run on the horizon, Columbus' first objective was to win the 1-AAAA region tournament.

Tatyana Wyatt got the Lady Blue Devils one step closer on Thursday.

Wyatt scored 32 points -- including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the game -- in Columbus' 63-44 victory over Americus-Sumter. The victory pushes the Lady Blue Devils to the region championship game and adds another impressive victory to their resume.

The latest showing also represents another standout effort from Wyatt, who will play for Kentucky next season.

“She's always going to be big for us," Columbus head coach Joe Cherrone said. “She’s a senior and a Division-I player. She has to do those types of things in order for us to win.”

Wyatt's performance helped in a shutdown fourth quarter by Columbus.

The Lady Blue Devils began the final eight minutes trailing 40-39. The team proceeded to score 18 unanswered points and blanked Americus-Sumter until there was just 1:40 left in the game.

By that point, any chances the Panthers had of mounting a comeback was gone.

Cherrone chalked up his team's change of pace to their emphasis on more pressure defensively.

“We just took it to heart,” Cherrone said. “I told them we couldn’t really keep up with them in a zone. I told them to lock up on man-to-man. They just played together as a team in the fourth quarter.”

Columbus moves on to play the winner of Carver versus Shaw for the region championship on Friday. Cherrone said he fully anticipates a true test of what his team can produce.

“This is going to be huge for us,” Cerrone said. “If we can take care of business, I think we can go a long way (in the state tournament).”

This story was originally published February 9, 2017 at 6:42 PM with the headline "Tatyana Wyatt's big day leads Columbus to region tournament finals."